Subject: [fem-women2000 432] [B5NGONEWS] Report from Geneva
From: Liz Probert <liz@gn.apc.org>
Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 18:43:58 +0200
Seq: 432


Sender: Sharon Hackett <hackett@cdeacf.ca>
Subject: [B5NGONEWS] Report from Geneva

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 12:54:07 +0300 (GMT)
De: REPEM 2 <repem2@chasque.apc.org>
A: M.Calloni@lse.ac.uk

FIRST REPORT - SPECIAL SESSION OF  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OUTCOME OF THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
AND FURTHER INITIATIVES
PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA JUNE 26-30

REPORTING: REPEM/GEO/ICAE and DAWN
**********************************************
The process of WSSD+5 United Nations General Assembly
Special Session is a bit too slow.

People are trying to be everywhere , running from one 
building to another and are also attending the NGO Forum,
which unfortunately runs parallel to the Assembly. All this
makes very difficult for everyone to strategize and coordinate. 
Anyway we are doing lobby and exercising pressure in order to
incorporate the language of Beijing +5 outcome document

Yesterday's working session was very slow, which reminded us
of Beijing's +5 Prepcom and Beijing+5  UNGASS. Delegations are
working in 3 groups, one chaired by the Ambassador Mr Cristian Maquieira
>from Chile, and this group works on commitments:
1. Enabling environment
7: To accelerate the economic, social and human resource development of
Africa and the least developed countries,
8:To ensure that when structural adjustment programmes are agreed to
they
include social development goals
Commitment 9: To increase significantly and/or utilise more efficiently
the
resources allocated to social development 

 
Group  2 is chaired by Koos Richelle, from Netherlands, and they work on
commitments :
2: To eradicate poverty in the world.
3: To promote the goal of full employment.
4: To promote social integration 
5:To achieve equality and equity between women and men
6: Access to health and education
10: To promote an improved and strengthened framework for international,
regional and subregional cooperation for social development

Group 3 works on the political declaration.
 
There are also three working groups created to work on those para. that
are
more difficult and where there is no consensus.
 
Yesterday, group 2 were discussing para  97- 100, which are related to
the
prevention of HIV in Africa, debate became stagnant because the Holy See
does not want to recognise the language of the PFA and the language of
Beijing + 5 outcome document. Besides they want to delete all kind of
mentioning to prevention (except abstinence), and also sexual
education.   

****************************
Language in WSSD+5 text may weaken achievements in Beijing+5 document!

Last week in New York during informal negotiations on the outcome
document
for the review of the World Summit on Social Development (WSSD+5) there
was
discussion on how to refer to the just completed Beijing+5 outcome
document. As a result of official reservations which some governments
took
on the Beijing+5 outcome document regarding globalisation, debt and
other
issues, governments are negotiating whether to "take into account",
"implement" or "uphold the outcome" of Beijing+5.

We understand from an NGO following the negotiations that in the section
on
Gender Equity in the WSSD+5 document, The US proposed "take into
account"
the B+5 outcome.  EU proposed "fully take into account," the G-77
proposed
"uphold" instead of take into account, and Norway suggested "recommit
to"
instead of take into account.    The Beijing+5 document represents the
intense labours of many government delegates and hundreds of women NGOs.
Merely "taking into account" the document is a dismissal of the work we
have
done and the achievements we have gained.

Because this is a US initiative, we urge US NGOs to contact the
President's
Inter-Agency Task Force (Lidia Soto-Harmon, 1-202-647-6227; fax
202-647-5337) as well as the US mission ( Ms. Betty King, Ambassador
212-415-4278; fax: 212-415-4443; e-mail: usaun@undp.org),
calling for stronger language in support of the Beijing+5 outcome
document.

An important note:  Many of you may know that the US went on record with
11
reservations in the final plenary of the Special Session, Women 2000.
These included  paragraphs 29, 30, and 135 (i) dealing with
globalisation
and economic issues.  At the time, the US representative, Ambassador
Betty
King, dismissed the impact of international economic actors on women's
lives, saying, "Most aspects of equality for women have no direct link
to
international economic and financial issues."  (see note from UN press
release, below).  Subsequently we have learned that the Washington-based
US delegation to the Special session, including the head of the
delegation,
had already left NY at the time of the final plenary, and was unaware
that
Mission staff were making these reservations.  Their own negotiating
positions were directly undermined by this action.  In a briefing for
NGOs
on Beijing+5 by the President's inter-agency task force in Washington
last
week, several NGOs challenged the US reservations.  One NGO asked if the
above comment is the explicit policy of Treasury, as it goes against the
accepted positions of the UN, World Bank, IMF and other international
financial institutions.  She was told that this is not Treasury's
official
position.  There appears to be some scrambling in Washington even to
ammend
the US reservations.

However, the delegation to Beijing +5 does not directly influence
negotiations in Geneva this week on WSSD+5.  Given the suggested
language
to merely "take note" of the B+5 document,  it appears that the US
Mission's position will win out over the concerns of some women in the
Administration in Washington.  This is an important time to put pressure
and let our government know that we will not accept a pull-back from the
commitments made at Women 2000.  These commitments need to be strongly
affirmed at WSSD+5.

Carol Barton, Alternative-Women in Development/NY
Maria Riley, Center of Concern





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